The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
Parallel translations
- KJV And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
- BSB The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
- NKJV The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
- NASB The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
- NLT The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The third and fourth rivers are the Hiddekel (Tigris) and the Euphrates. Familiar rivers anchor Eden in the known world.
Overview
The account names the Tigris and the Euphrates, two great rivers well known throughout the ancient near east. Their mention connects the garden to the heartland of early civilization. The precise naming reinforces the historical character of the narrative and the reality of the world God created and provided.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Dan 10:4In the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel,
- Gen 15:18In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I have given this land to your offspring, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
- Deut 1:7Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all the places near there, in the Arabah, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
- Gen 10:22The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.
- Deut 11:24Every place whereon the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border.
- Gen 10:11Out of that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,
- Gen 25:18They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.
- Rev 9:14saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Lay
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 2:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.